1. Farmers Suicide: Every suicide has a multiple of causes. But when you have nearly 200,000 of them, it makes sense to seek broad common factors within that group. The suicides appear concentrated in regions of high commercialization of agriculture and very high peasant debt. Cash crop farmers seemed far more vulnerable to suicide than those growing food crops. Yet the basic underlying causes of the crisis remained untouched. Commercialization of the countryside along with massive decline in investment in agriculture was the beginning of the decline. Withdrawal of bank credit at a time of soaring input prices and the crash in farm incomes compounded the problems. Shifting of millions from food crop to cash crop cultivation had its own risks. Privatization of many resources has also compounded the problems. The devastation lies in the big 5 States of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. These states accounted for two-thirds of all farm suicides during 2003-08.Some of the major factors responsible are indebtedness, crop failure and deterioration in economic status. Decline in social position, exorbitant charges by local money lenders for the vulnerable farmers, chronic illness in the family, addiction etc. have made life of farmers difficult.
If you are assigned political leadership of the country, what measures would you adopt to address the challenges that are mentioned above? Which two changes would you address and how?
If you are assigned political leadership of the country, what measures would you adopt to address the challenges that are mentioned above? Which two changes would you address and how?
Answers & Comments
Answer:
The chief minister has also promised to take steps to provide employment to the rural population at an outlay of ₹3,400 crore, engaging them in desilting of canals and tanks and extending employment under the MGNREGS by 50 days.
These measures no doubt look alluring and beneficial to the distressed farmers. However, have our policymakers diagnosed the deep-rooted cause of farm suicides? Is drought the only factor that is driving the farmers to commit suicide? If so, then why were no suicides reported in 1972, 1982 and 1987 when the country experienced its worst droughts?
Suicide by farmers is not entirely a new phenomenon. However, its re-emergence in spite of innumerable State and Central interventions is puzzling and shocking. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) in its 49th Annual Report on Accidental Death and Suicides in India (2015) provides evidence that the number of farmers committing suicide rose more than 41 per cent in 2015 over 2014
Explanation:
Rising input costs have shrunk profits, making cultivation unviable. Easy access to credit and better MSPs can help
The unremitting wave of farmer suicides has resurfaced, now haunting the farming heartlands of Tamil Nadu. Troubled by a severely deficit monsoon which triggered the worst drought in 140 years, over 100 farmers, mostly in the Cauvery delta, have reportedly committed suicide during a period of one month, and the number continues to rise unabated.
Various farmers’ associations have voiced their concerns before the State government and have demanded immediate relief measures to halt it. Following the submission of a report on the extent of drought and farm deaths by an official team, the chief minister recently declared the entire State drought-hit and announced measures worth ₹160 crore and ₹350 crore to alleviate the water crisis in urban and rural local bodies respectively. The chief minister has said about ₹78 crore is to be spent on meeting the fodder needs of cattle, and has ordered the rescheduling of farm loans, the cancellation of land tax and compensation for lost crop to drought-affected farmers.